Chip-and-pin flaw found

Account details can be transmitted wirelessly

Account details from chip-and-pin cards were sent wirelessly from a tampered card reader to an accomplice

Details from debit and credit cards with chip-and-pin could be stolen if a card is put into a tampered payment machine, the BBC 's Watchdog programme has found.

Researchers from Cambridge University discovered that details can be sent wirelessly from a tampered machine to fraudsters who can then create a fake card based on those account details.

Tonight's Watchdog programme will show how easy it was for the research team to intercept a cardholder's details during a transaction, and send them wirelessly to a partner in crime. A cloned card is then created using the account details, and further transactions were made.

Jemma Smith, head of PR at UK payments organisation Apacs , said there was no evidence of such crimes taking place in the UK.